KBS2’s Love Rain is playing host to fairly low viewership ratings. What is noticeable in the midst of its suffering, however, is producer Yoon Suk Ho’s insistence in including hints of his previous pieces in his more recent characters. He’s now doing so in Love Rain through Girls’ Generation Yoona’s role Kim Yun Hee and Jung Ha Na.

The first flashback came during the yellow umbrella scene between Yun Hee and Seo In Ha (Jang Keun Suk) in front of the library, which resembled Song Hye Gyo’s yellow umbrella, Song Seung Hun and the raft of KBS2’s Autumn In My Heart. Producer Yoon Suk Ho also tried to incorporate a memorable scene from Winter Sonata into Love Rain through Yoona. While Yun Hee of the 70s became Song Hye Gyo, Winter Sonata was taken on by the character Jung Ha Na of 2012.

The fifth episode, to be aired on April 9, will show the hot spring date between photographer Seo Joon (Jang Keun Suk) and the positive girl Jung Ha Na in beautiful Hokkaido. The two happen to meet there, and when they end up alone in a hot spring, they start to be drawn toward each other. The style Yoona dons for the hot spring scene catch the eye. The scarf and the way her character knots it remind viewers of how Bae Yong Jun wore his scarf in Winter Sonata in 2002. The scarf that Bae Yong Jun used in the drama at the time became a big fashion item labeled the ‘Bae Yong Jun scarf’.

The reason Yoona keeps reliving Autumn In My Heart and Winter Sonata is probably related to producer Yoon Suk Ho’s directing style. Yoon Suk Ho is a director that aims for aesthetics in his videos. He cares for every detail in order to capture a piece of art on camera. Of course, he probably can’t deny that part of it comes from his wish to bring back the glory he enjoyed in the past.

The good news is that the ratings are slowly climbing up. The most recent Ep 6 has the highest AGB ratings so far. That means more viewers are understanding the concept and are giving Love Rain a chance.

There are a lot of people who still don’t give it a chance at all. I saw a lot of 1 star reviews only because they just saw the first 2 episodes. But they didn’t understand that LR was portraying how life was like in the 70s. It meant to reflect a simpler time and more relaxed environment. These people just dismissed LR as boring and concluded that the rest of the drama is also uninteresting.

I am sad that those people won’t see this series through at least half-way to see the modern era in the story. They didn’t judge Love Rain as a whole.